why are my roosters always mean

[wnthunting]

hello... i hatched 18 R.I.R eggs last spring.. 6 of the 18 were roosters.. all of them were very friendly and were handled a lot until the got to be 5 months old.. why did the roosters turn mean at 5 months?

 

[sourland]

They reached sexual maturity and started acting like roosters. If they all had the same father, I would be willing to bet that he too was a human aggressive rooster. Treat your hens like pets if necessary, but treat your cockerels/roosters like chickens. Very frequently overly socialized roosters feel no boundaries between themselves and humans. The result - they try to subordinate humans as they would another rooster. Just basic poultry husbandry.

 

[1muttsfan]

RIR roosters can be more aggressive than roosters of other breeds. Don't be too discouraged, many roosters are friendly and tame.

 

[sourland]

RIR roosters can be more aggressive than roosters of other breeds. Don't be too discouraged, many roosters are friendly and tame.

Although, perhaps, the most human aggressive rooster that I ever had was a RIR, I also have had many that were excellent flock roosters with no human aggressive tendencies. The source of your stock and the environment raised in have a far greater effect than breed in my experience. The exception being gamefowl. I have never had a human aggressive gamecock - it was a trait understandably culled against very stringently.

 

[al6517]

They reached sexual maturity and started acting like roosters. If they all had the same father, I would be willing to bet that he too was a human aggressive rooster. Treat your hens like pets if necessary, but treat your cockerels/roosters like chickens. Very frequently overly socialized roosters feel no boundaries between themselves and humans. The result - they try to subordinate humans as they would another rooster. Just basic poultry husbandry.

And you would be correct on those FACTS !!!! and a fact it is, although the only ones who will disagree are excessive handlers and coddlers who believe this behavior does not stem from handling, and they would be sadly mistaken. I would venture that 80% of roosters who are handled excesively as chicks end up this way and the # of post to that effect reflect that, regardless of breed. These are also the group who will fail or are incapable of handling an irrate rooster once it shows the effects the cuddling has caused.

You mentioned animal husbandry and that is exactly what it's called when barnyard type animals are raised properly, when they are raised improperly we call them pet's, there is a difference. I know many folks have many opinions on this the facts speak for themselfs, will you find a publication that say's this ??............ NO !!........... will you read it on the internet ??............ NO !!........... you aquire this knowledge from constant contact and proper interaction over the years from handling many many birds. I hope the next time you hatch some roosters to perhaps try not handling them so much and leave them be..................... hard as that seems it will help when they mature. Hope you don't get hurt going out to do chores so watch out behind you as that is when they like to strike. Good luck with them.

 

[runsw/scissors]

Or as I like to call it, "testosterone poisoning"

I would definitely x2 the treating young roosters as chickens!

They reached sexual maturity and started acting like roosters. If they all had the same father, I would be willing to bet that he too was a human aggressive rooster. Treat your hens like pets if necessary, but treat your cockerels/roosters like chickens. Very frequently overly socialized roosters feel no boundaries between themselves and humans. The result - they try to subordinate humans as they would another rooster. Just basic poultry husbandry.

 

[[email protected]]

We had a roster we never handled and he turned out to be very mean, our current roster i handled him once in a wile when he was probably a year or 2 old, he is an ok roster wont let me pick him up but also wont attack and if he dose the most he will do when threatened is peck your shoe. Could it be something to do with breed and number of birds?

And you would be correct on those FACTS !!!! and a fact it is, although the only ones who will disagree are excessive handlers and coddlers who believe this behavior does not stem from handling, and they would be sadly mistaken. I would venture that 80% of roosters who are handled excesively as chicks end up this way and the # of post to that effect reflect that, regardless of breed. These are also the group who will fail or are incapable of handling an irrate rooster once it shows the effects the cuddling has caused.

You mentioned animal husbandry and that is exactly what it's called when barnyard type animals are raised properly, when they are raised improperly we call them pet's, there is a difference. I know many folks have many opinions on this the facts speak for themselfs, will you find a publication that say's this ??............ NO !!........... will you read it on the internet ??............ NO !!........... you aquire this knowledge from constant contact and proper interaction over the years from handling many many birds. I hope the next time you hatch some roosters to perhaps try not handling them so much and leave them be..................... hard as that seems it will help when they mature. Hope you don't get hurt going out to do chores so watch out behind you as that is when they like to strike. Good luck with them.

 

[adgcountrygirl]

We had a roster we never handled and he turned out to be very mean, our current roster i handled him once in a wile when he was probably a year or 2 old, he is an ok roster wont let me pick him up but also wont attack and if he dose the most he will do when threatened is peck your shoe. Could it be something to do with breed and number of birds?

Al and Tylerkaz are both right... Also... TOO Many Roos and not enough Hens!!!! I have 3 roos which is too many for my flock, but they are getting along well for now. I can keep them separated when and if I need too, until I get more hens and give away one more roo.

The first time I saw this was when my chicks started to mature. They were hatched in an incubator and I ended up with 8 hens and 5 roos. The most aggressive one wasn't actually handled much. I was raised to be respectful of animals wild and domestic. If they don't seem to mind, I will hold them, if they try to get away and I'm not doctoring them, I let them be. I knew I had to many roos and invited a friend to pick one to take home to her two hens. She actually PICKED the agressive one and I was relieved even though I warned her that he may bite. A few weeks later I asked her how he was doing. She said that he was good to the hens and did well with her kids who are in Jr high and High school. I had figured he would settle down when he had some girls that he didn't have to compete for, and I was right. The second roo I gave was to a friend with 10-15 hens. I hated to see him go, but I knew he'd be happier with more girls. (He was one of my best roos.)

To wrap this up, I would say, look at your flock. Is one roo challenging the dominate roo constantly? Is he the one who is also being aggressive to people? None of my roos have ever spurred me. Only one has bitten me and it was my fault. (He warned me I was too close and I thought he was growling at another bird.) Animals need their own space just as humans do.

 

[galanie]

They reached sexual maturity and started acting like roosters.  If they all had the same father, I would be willing to bet that he too was a human aggressive rooster.  Treat your hens like pets if necessary, but treat your cockerels/roosters like chickens.  Very frequently overly socialized roosters feel no boundaries between themselves and humans.  The result - they try to subordinate humans as they would another rooster.  Just basic poultry husbandry.

And you would be correct on those FACTS !!!! and a fact it is, although the only ones who will disagree are excessive handlers and coddlers who believe this behavior does not stem from handling, and they would be sadly mistaken. I would venture that 80% of roosters who are handled excesively as chicks end up this way and the # of post to that effect reflect that, regardless of breed. These are also the group who will fail or are incapable of handling an irrate rooster once it shows the effects the cuddling has caused.

You mentioned animal husbandry and that is exactly what it's called when barnyard type animals are raised properly, when they are raised improperly we call them pet's, there is a difference. I know many folks have many opinions on this the facts speak for themselfs, will you find a publication that say's this ??............ NO !!........... will you read it on the internet ??............ NO !!........... you aquire this knowledge from constant contact and proper interaction over the years from handling many many birds. I hope the next time you hatch some roosters to perhaps try not handling them so much and leave them be..................... hard as that seems it will help when they mature. Hope you don't get hurt going out to do chores so watch out behind you as that is when they like to strike. Good luck with them.

 

And you know, I might find out directly about this. Before I knew whether my mutt was a pullet or not, it got coddled mainly because it just KNEW I was it's mom. He was a single hatch and was alone his first few weeks. It convinced any chicks I put it with as well. So now I have two 4 month old pullets that prefer to have breakfast in my lap and since the older girls won't let them eat at the feeders, I kind of enjoy it. None of my others ever were this friendly.

But the mutt doesn't want to be touched. So I don't touch him now. He isn't afraid of me in the least, he just doesn't want to be touched. So far so good. But his hormones are kicking in and he's considered wing dancing me and challenging me more than once. I've just let it go. But we'll see. At least his dad was a sweetie, not aggressive to humans in the least. Course I have the advantage of knowing that, having raised his dad.

 

[galanie]

Well today I got what was coming to me. My little baby sweetheart roo attacked me LOL. He is now hiding in the coop like a baby, petrified of me. He isn't going to be one of those "hold them and walk around" types, I can tell you. Nor is he going to be a "hold him to the ground till he submits" one. Neither did much but scare the beejeebus out of him. He fought me like a wildcat and finally got loose but it took him a long, long time. When he pops out of it we'll see if he's schooled, or Dinner.